Cold Lips
by Faulty Paragon
Summary: Taako has been waiting for quite a while to see Kravitz again. He didn't think it would happen like this, though- but he's not complaining. -Set in Episode 68 of Balance.


A/N: This is my first ever TAZ fic. It's just a little adaptation of Taakitz's reunion in Ep. 68. I went through the Balance Arc this summer, and just finished up Amnesty, but the Tres Horny Bois tend to stick with you, let's be real.

Let me know what you think!

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Cold Lips

The colour was _breathtaking._

As his long, delicate fingers pressed flat against the black obsidian, he felt the power he had gained just moments earlier welling up in his core. He didn't need to force it, to push- all he had to do was close his eyes, inhale, and exhale everything out.

And suddenly, that black glass that had haunted him secretly for the past year was _sapphire._

There was no pause, no slow creeping as black turned into blue, as mistake turned into potential. All that remained was a brilliant, blinding sapphire stone, burning hot under his fingertips until they were almost painful. Any heat, however, was eased by a sudden onslaught of wind released from the circle- he blinked and squinted against it, but the force of the magical release of energy was enough to throw his hat dozens of feet behind him. He had to squat lower, hunkering down against the almost wind-tunnel-esque attack.

He started. _There's no fuckin' way I'm losing my hat for this- Lup better get it back for me-_

But as he glanced over his shoulder, he noticed that the headdress rested upon grass that grew greener by the second.

Taako's eyes raised upwards, watching pieces of shadow crumble and fall into nothing, replaced by the blue his heart longed to see. It was almost a mirror for the sapphire- a mirror for _hope. _

_Oh my god, it's actually working. _

And as that hope grew stronger and stronger within him, and as his tiny prayers grew into full-fledged internal screams of desire and victory to come, the power which surged out of him finally managed to accomplish what he had wanted to do ever since they had escaped Wonderland.

The planes reconnected.

After all, what else could be causing this light to emerge from the giant sapphire disc, shining in all directions? White spectral light bounced everywhere from deep within the stone- almost chaotically at first, racing towards the sky in leaps and bounds of joy in its freedom- but quickly, the light began to take on the shape of what had once been there barely a year earlier.

Before Taako's very eyes, Phandalin's ghostly form reappeared, the city's bones shining white against the shadow outlining the rest of the world amidst the blue and the battle.

And, in the center of town, kneeled the man Taako had wanted to see.

"Taako, you-" Lup cheered, passing him his hat, but Taako didn't let her finish. Instead, he simply snatched the wizard's hat, jamming it back onto his head and fixing his bangs frantically as he bolted towards the figure at the center of the ghostly Phandalin.

As Taako drew near, the figure stood, facing the wizard at last. Despite the weary toll of the battle clear upon his face, the smile on his lips and the warmth in his eyes was enough to bring forth a surge of affection in Taako's heart. _I did it. I fucking did it!_

The man brushed stained, calloused fingers through his dark, sweat-dampened hair, pushing it out of eyes filled with absolute wonderment. "Taako," he began, his voice dropping his false accent without hesitation for the elf, "how… how did you do that?"

Taako didn't respond. He simply threw himself towards the other man, wrapping his arms around broad shoulders and pulling him in for a kiss that had long been overdue.

Before he could get their lips to connect, however, the man threw his hands up over his mouth, breathing heavily against cupped palms. "Hold on, I- I wanna- I wanna warm up my face. I don't want it to be cold and weird," he murmured hastily between huffs, casting an apologetic look at the elf.

Taako opened his mouth to protest and throw a quip back at him, because _fuck _he didn't care if it was cold, he just wanted _contact- _but then, the man felt satisfied in his work, cradled Taako's head and waist, pulled him in closer, and kissed him.

And suddenly, everything in the world was _right _again, because Kravitz was finally in his arms.

His heart soared as he pressed himself against Kravitz's taller form, barely moving his lips just so that he could _feel _Kravitz there again. And, yes, the man's touch was cold- it was _always _cold, that wasn't new- but against the heat that was rising in the world as the world fought back against the Hunger, and against the heat that was rising in Taako's veins as he tasted mint and rum and _Kravitz, _it was more than welcome. It was perfect.

After lingering in his arms for just a moment, Taako finally pulled away, looking the other man up and down. Kravitz's expression was quizzical, wanton- the kiss had clearly ended too early, and being caught in the act of just wanting Taako back quickly sent a flush into the taller man's dark skin, his ears tinting red in seconds.

The sight warmed his heart. "Ok," Taako began, "forget about how I-" and he immediately lost his train of thought, "uh, short story short… uh, long story short it was…" He paused, then snorted. "I was rad, natch." Kravitz instinctively chuckled, and Taako beamed goofily up at him, awe no longer concealed. "How do _you_ still look this good? You've been locked in like mud, or tar, or _something _in the Astral Plane, but- you look fantastic!"

Kravitz flicked dark locks out of his eyes overdramatically, wearing a cheeky grin. "It's a lot of work to look this good." The grin was quickly replaced by sheer adoration. Quietly, he continued, grabbing both of Taako's hands in his larger, deathly cold ones, "I- Taako, I was trying to get out to get a message to _you_. I thought… I thought you were gone. I thought _everything_ was gone."

The heartbreak in his voice- barely concealed, but still palpable- was enough to nearly knock the elf off his feet. "Well, you're not that far off. Uh, it's..."

Taako was never good at the whole… vulnerability thing, either.

But as he looked at the man's hopeful, yet worried gaze, a small thought began to worm its way into his mind. He squinted, the thought growing bigger and goofier (and, although he'd never admit it, scarier) by the moment. Feigning weary acceptance, Taako admitted, "But you're right, there has been a terrible loss that you should know about."

With a snap of his fingers, he felt the illusory magic that had been sitting on his face for what felt like _years _finally fall away, revealing the person whom no one else had ever really seen. "So, I just wanted to be honest. I'm- I didn't wanna catfish you or anything." And despite all of his confidence and bravado, all of his strength and beauty and poise… his lip trembled. His voice shook.

And Taako suddenly felt very, _very _vulnerable.

He immediately threw his eyes to Kravitz's stomach, reaching out for the man's dark cloak. Playing with the hem of the dirtied material absently, the elf continued, "This is Taako today. Um, I had a bad run in while I was saving the world again, and this is what I really look like." His voice cracked, and he hastily cleared his throat. "And I just wanted you to know that, in case this changes anything for you, personally. I thought you should know, now."

_Before I give you my heart wholly again._

Kravitz's mouth fell open, closed, open again, as he searched for how to put his words together.

That silence made Taako want to scream.

Finally, he spluttered, "Taako, I... was crazy about you, before some weird light told me a story about your one hundred year journey through _existence_ where you were fighting for a century to save the world." Grabbing Taako's hands again, the man reached up, brushing the elf's bangs out of his eyes tenderly. His lips quirked, affection oozing from every pore. "I love you, Taako, and at this point, I think that everyone in _reality _is going to love you after hearing your story, and... nothing's gonna change that." And everything in his face, his voice, his _heart _showed that he meant every single word.

_…I chose the right man, huh?_

Instantly, Taako's bravado was back. "That was actually a test- your face is a skull half the time, so I just wanted to make sure we—" Kravitz snorted, biting back a howl of laughter, smoothly breaking the mood, "-yeah, no fucking kidding. Okay, anyway-"

Suddenly, the sound of an explosion, accompanied by a brilliant flash of light on the horizon, filled the air. Distantly, a broken, anguished cry reached Taako's ears.

The voice belonged Lucas. "_My laaab_!"

Kravitz covered his mouth with one hand, hiding his giggles. Taako clicked his tongue, fighting back his own smile as he chided, "Now, let's be considerate- he probably did a lot of good math in there."

As the taller man continued to fight back his laughter, a familiar red cloak swerved up to the duo. Lup tugged Taako's arm, pointing straight up at the sky as she whispered, "Uh, we've got a bigger problem here."

Taako rolled his eyes, but as he leaned back to take in what she was looking at, his heart dropped like a rock. One of the Judges was towering right above them, merely a few paces away from stamping out the entirety of the town square where they stood under its heel.

Lup gulped audibly. "I don't know how to kill that!"

Kravitz stepped forward, his expression turning stern. "Well, I think I know some folks who can help." To Taako, he explained, "You remember those wayward souls I've been imprisoning? Well, I'm giving them some time off for good behavior."

The Judge's hand opened above them, a mighty death sentence rushing towards the ground, ready to crush them into dust. However, Kravitz, in turn, raised his own hand- and at his command, a massive hand formed of the same silvery, spectral light that had rebuilt the image of Phandalin emerged from the core of the sapphire. The hand rose upwards, intercepting the Judge with a crash, accompanied by the howls and wails of banished souls.

Taako squinted, analyzing the magical hand. The light wasn't magic, though- instead, it was comprised of hundreds upon hundreds of souls, dancing and swirling amongst one another to hold back the Judge.

_Ah, fuck. _

He knew that hand.

Just as he had that thought, the rest of the soul-creature's body pulled itself out of the sapphire beneath their feet, and within moments, all of Legion was standing upright, facing off against the Judge with equal force.

Every spirit opened their mouth and screamed, the air turning icy cold for just a moment before the heat returned. With their battle cry freed, Legion swatted the Judge backwards, away from the sapphire circle, and leapt off to wrestle it into submission.

Kravitz sighed, bringing Taako's attention back to the other man. "I need to keep an eye on them, Taako, and I need to shepherd this world's dead but it's-" and he laughed, his face melting once again, just a man in love for just one moment- "it's _so _fuckin' good to see your face again. When I was over there, I just… I thought about you constantly."

Taako beamed, but with the sounds of Legion's battle against the Judge still too close for comfort, his words spilled out in a jumbled mess. "Um, I mean- me too, pretty much… except the world's ending. So kind of like half and half, but still, free-thought-time was definitely devoted your way." Nodding decidedly, he added, "We _will_ hook up after this, no doubt. Let's go ahead and save... everybody, pretty much, and then we'll move on to that. Does that sound good to you?"

Kravitz grabbed Taako's shoulders, placing a single kiss on the elf's forehead in response.

Before he could follow Legion, however, Taako cried, "Oh, wait, shit! One thing before you go." Jabbing his thumb towards Lup's floating, red spectral figure, he explained, "This is my sister."

At the introduction, Lup scampered on over, a gleeful grin on her ghostly face. "What's up, Ghost Rider?" With her words, Barry joined the trio, awkwardly waving. _In-laws, right? _Barry mouthed.

Taako winked back in confirmation. _I like the sound of that._

Kravitz, who had begun his transformation after nodding to Lup, waved back just as clumsily. The skeletal face and scythe changed the tone of the interaction into… something less than friendly, unfortunately. Leaning towards Taako, he murmured, "You... know we're gonna have to talk about the fact that your sister's a lich, right?"

The wizard shrugged, taking a deep breath. "Yeah," he sighed, "I assumed."

Kravitz hummed thoughtfully as he stepped back, completing his transformation. "Let's figure it out after we save the world."

Taako grinned, feral and wild, the thrill of the fight returning to him. The fight wasn't over, after all.

It had only just begun.

"Deal."

And with that, Kravitz took flight after Legion, leaving Taako, Lup and Barry behind to continue their own battle against the Hunger once again- but this time, with a greater ally that anyone could have ever dreamed of.

His lips were still just a little cold from Kravitz's touch- exactly the way he liked them. _I'll see you soon, babe._

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A/N: And there's that. For some reason, my brain has been telling me to write a novelization of the whole Balance Arc, which would be _ridiculous _(but also insanely fun) so I decided to appease it with just this tidbit for now. Let me know if you would like to actually see a full novelization of it!


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